Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected.

Contents

Discography

Cover for Miranda Cosgrove's "About You Now" E.P.

Albums

About You Now (EP) (2009)

Sparks Fly (2010)

High Maintenance (EP) (2011)

Sparks Fly

'Sparks Fly'is the debut studio album by American actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove. The plans for the album were first announced in July 2008, and the album was released by Columbia Records on April 27, 2010 as a standard version and a deluxe edition. The album has been preceded by its lead single, "Kissin U" which was co-written with Cosgrove and produced by Dr. Luke, and was released on March 22, 2010. The album sold 36,000 copies in its first week, making its peak #8 on the Billboard 200.

Cosgrove's musical career first began with her recording the theme song of the Nickelodeon television series iCarly called "Leave It All To Me," on which Cosgrove stars as the title character on the show. The song features her former Drake and Josh cast mate Drake Bell, and was written by Michael Corcoran, one of Bell's band members. Following the success of iCarly, Columbia Records released a soundtrack album of the show on June 10, 2008. The soundtrack album included "Leave It All to Me" and three more songs recorded by Miranda Cosgrove.

Cosgrove stated, "Before that, I didn't see myself making an album, but when I spent time in the studio doing the theme song and saw how much fun it was, I wanted to go back."

In July 2008, she officially announced plans for a debut album, stating that the album was "different" from her contributions to the iCarly soundtrack, with her "co-writing and getting really into it," and saying that "[I'm] playing a character on iCarly, but this shows more of myself. Some people might think I'm just another actress putting out an album, but I wanted to prove that I'm more than that."

The album took two years to make, with Columbia Records' marketing manager Chris Poppe stating in May 2010 that "Miranda started working on [the album] at 14, and she's 16 now. The difference between those two ages is huge, and the songs have had to grow along with her."

On February 5, 2009, Cosgrove released her debut solo recording; the 5-song EP About You Now exclusively onto the iTunes store.

In February 2010, Cosgrove announced the album's first single would be titled "Kissin U", which debuted live in an interview with Ryan Seacrest. The album's title Sparks Fly comes from the first two words of "Kissin U". The track list, including the four deluxe edition bonus tracks, was announced on Tommy2.net on March 12, 2010, and the artwork was later revealed on March 19, 2010. The song "Daydream" was co-written and originally recorded by Avril Lavigne and produced by Raine Maida, and was planned for her second album Under My Skin. The song "Disgusting" was co-written and originally recorded by Kesha and produced by Sheppard Solomon and Tom Meredith, and was planned for her debut album Animal. Both songs were unreleased and eventually recorded by Cosgrove. The song "Shakespeare" is a cover, co-written and originally recorded by Susan Cagle and produced by John Shanks and was released as a single on her debut album The Subway Recordings. The song "Adored" was co-written with Cosgrove and produced by The Matrix and was a free digital download two years before the album's official release. The song "Charlie" was co-written by Nicole Morier with Greg Kurstin who produced the song and was released as a bonus track exclusively on the iTunes deluxe edition of the album.

Styles & Themes

The album has a variety of styles, but the album mainly consists of pop, pop rock, electropop, and soft rock. Cosgrove has stated that in the album she was trying to find her style, so the album experiments with several different kinds of music. In a recent interview, Cosgrove stated that she tried to put a little bit of her own flare into each and every song on the album. Cosgrove described the album's lead single "Kissin U", as "kind of a really happy, sweet song". The songs on the album generally deal with love and relationships. Cosgrove has stated that this was not intentional, but she realized this after she had already picked all of the songs on the album.

Reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who reviewed the album for allmusic.com was less than satisfied with the album, stating that "Miranda winds up buried underneath the weight of production on Sparks Fly — it often comes across like a cross of Miley Cyrus and Kesha’s full-frontal assault."

Sales

Sparks Fly sold 36,057 copies in its first week, earning it the eighth position on the U.S. Billboard 200 on the issue dated May 5, 2010. So far the album has spent one week in the top ten as well as another five weeks bouncing around the top fifty albums until the most recent chart position, number sixty-five, making this the album's first time outside the top fifty. The album has sold over 130,000 copies to date in the U.S.. In Mexico, the album debuted at number 84. The following week, the album fell 12 spots to 96.

Promotion

To promote the album, Cosgrove performed the single "Kissin U" live at the Kids Choice Awards pre-show. Nickelodeon also aired a television special titled 7 Secrets: Miranda Cosgrove, which aired on April 24, 2010. The half hour show revealed things about Cosgrove, such as how she got her start in the business, to some of her most embarrassing moments. Cosgrove embarked on a radio promotional tour, and has made appearances at radio concerts in the summer of 2010. On September 6, 2010, she performed "Kissin U", "BAM", and "About You Now" on The Today Show.

Singles

"Kissin U" is the album's lead single. Along with being the lead single from this album, it and "Adored" were the only two songs that Cosgrove co-wrote for it. The song was released onto iTunes on March 22, 2010. The single debuted at #87 on the Billboard Hot 100, and peaked at #54. The music video was directed by Alan Ferguson. It is also her first single to chart outside of the United States, entering the charts in Germany and Austria, among others.

Kissin U

Background

The song was first heard on March 12, 2010, when Cosgrove premiered the song live during a radio interview with Ryan Seacrest. The song is a pop rock ballad which sings of a boy who makes "Sparks Fly" with Cosgrove when they kiss. During a recent interview, she stated the song is about a special someone. She also stated that the person didn't know it was about him at first, but that he does now.

Critical reception

The single has been met with generally positive reviews from critics. When aJ!-ENT reviewed the song, he stated that the song was "well-produced, well-sung and has that sing/song style similar to Taylor Swift but with a rock edge." He also stated the song proves that Cosgrove has potential as a musical artist.[citation needed]

Music video

The music video was shot in Santa Monica, California and debuted on March 19, 2010. The video consists of Cosgrove on the beach singing and walking to meet her love interest, who is a sidewalk artist. They go to his house and she sees all the paintings he has painted, as well as trying to teach her how to draw, and later washing his car(a 1969 Pontiac Firebird) in front of her house, she splashes him with the hose and he chases her around the car. Later they are seen at a party where it seems they kiss. When she wakes up that morning she looks out the window to see a drawing of a butterfly with images of her and him in the wings on the sidewalk. The video was directed by Alan Ferguson.

Chart performance

On its first week of charting, "Kissin' U" debuted at #66 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart. It fell off the next week, but later re-entered at #54, causing it to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at #87. It dropped out once again the next week, but then re-entered at #95 and rose to a new peak of #54. However, on the week ending July 10, the single re-entered the chart at #93 due to heavy airplay and has since reached #69. It is also her first single to gain significant airplay in the United States, debuting at number 36 on the US airplay top 40. It eventually rose to a peak of 18. As well as becoming a major hit for Cosgrove in the US, it is her first song to chart internationally, debuting at number 82 on the German Singles Chart. The song quickly dwindled down the chart before jumping to a new peak of 73, and most recently to its current peak of 67. It also debuted at number 57 on the Austrian singles chart, and has rose to a peak of 54.